Masters v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec.
| Citation | 382 F.Supp.3d 726 |
| Decision Date | 09 April 2019 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 3:17-cv-354 |
| Parties | Tamala MASTERS, Plaintiff, v. COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL SECURITY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Ohio |
Stephanie D. Dobson, Horenstein, Nicholson & Blumenthal, Dayton, OH, for Plaintiff.
Adam R. Sorkin, Social Security Administration, Office of General Counsel, Chicago, IL, John J. Stark, US Attorney Office, Columbus, OH, for Defendant.
DECISION AND ENTRY: (1) REVERSING THE ALJ'S NON-DISABILITY FINDING AS UNSUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; (2) REMANDING THIS CASE TO THE COMMISSIONER UNDER THE FOURTH SENTENCE OF 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) FOR AN IMMEDIATE AWARD OF BENEFITS; AND (3) TERMINATING THIS CASE ON THE COURT'S DOCKET
This Social Security disability benefits appeal is before the undersigned for disposition based upon the parties' consent. Doc. 7. At issue is whether the Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") erred in finding Plaintiff not "disabled" and therefore unentitled to Disability Insurance Benefits ("DIB"). This case is before the Court on Plaintiff's Statement of Errors (doc. 10), the Commissioner's memorandum in opposition (doc. 11), Plaintiff's reply (doc. 12), the administrative record (doc. 5),1 and the record as a whole.
Before reaching the merits of Plaintiff's appeal, the Court feels compelled to take pause and address a preliminary matter. At the Social Security hearing below, ALJ Motta submitted that, "[District Courts] don't read evidence ..." and reiterated, on the record, "None of them read the evidence to the detail that the ALJ does." PageID 958.
These statements are, at a minimum, troubling and inaccurate. Social Security cases make up a significant portion of federal court litigation.2 In the Southern District of Ohio's Dayton seat of court, federal law clerks serving magistrate Judges spend a substantial percentage of their time devoted to reviewing and analyzing Social Security Appeals. Unbeknownst to many, countless hours are spent by District Court Judges, Magistrate Judges, and their law clerks pouring through medical records to ensure that each claimant receives a fair and appropriate review under controlling law. In most appeals, these medical records are several hundred pages in length. Each record is carefully and thoroughly considered as part of the appellate review process in this Court.
These realities stand in stark contrast to the ALJ's blithe assertion. On a disability benefits appeal, District Courts are required to determine whether an ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). Necessarily involved in this determination is a thorough review of the medical evidence of record. Hephner v. Mathews , 574 F.2d 359 (6th Cir. 1978) () (emphasis added). Indeed, after such a review, this Court frequently finds ALJs' non-disability findings unsupported by substantial evidence.3 District Courts are hesitant to reward immediate benefits on remand, but this is not due, as the ALJ avows, to a derelict review of the evidence. Rather, District Courts are conscientious about overstepping the heightened standard, which requires overwhelming proof of disability, before the granting of immediate benefits on remand. Mowery v. Heckler , 771 F.2d 966, 973 (6th Cir. 1985). With this preliminary issue addressed, the undersigned now turns to the merits of the case.
Plaintiff filed for DIB alleging a disability onset date of March 10, 2008. PageID 1433. Plaintiff claims disability as a result of a number of alleged impairments including, inter alia , degenerative disc disease
, myofascial pain syndrome, fibromyalgia, and carpal tunnel. PageID 42.
After an initial denial of her application, Plaintiff received a hearing before ALJ Carol Bowen on June 1, 2011. PageID 97-127. ALJ Bowen issued a written decision on August 1, 2011 finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 131-47. The Appeals Council granted Plaintiff's request for review, vacated ALJ Bowen's non-disability finding, and remanded the case to the ALJ for further proceedings. PageID 153-56. Specifically, the Appeals Council instructed the ALJ to reconsider Plaintiff's manipulative limitations in light of new and material evidence, a medical opinion authored by Plaintiff's treating physician, Eugene Kim, M.D. Id.
On remand from the Appeals Council, Plaintiff received a hearing before ALJ Amelia Lombardo on January 9, 2013. PageID 62-96. ALJ Lombardo issued a written decision on March 27, 2013 affording the new medical evidence no weight and similarly finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 40-54. The Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for review, PageID 1022, and Plaintiff filed an appeal with this Court, PageID 966. Finding that ALJ Lombardo erred, as did the prior ALJ, in her analysis of the opinion of Plaintiff's treating physician, this Court remanded for further proceedings. Masters v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., No. 3:14-cv-337, 2016 WL 1170911, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39525 (S.D. Ohio Mar. 25, 2016).
On remand from this Court, Plaintiff received a third hearing before ALJ Elizabeth Motta on March 6, 2017. PageID 930-61. ALJ Motta issued a written decision on June 14, 2017 again affording little weight to Dr. Kim's opinion and finding Plaintiff not disabled. PageID 847. Specifically, ALJ Motta found at Step Five that, based upon Plaintiff's RFC to perform a reduced range of light work,4 including a limitation of frequent handling, "there were jobs that existed in significant numbers in the national economy that [Plaintiff] could have performed[.]" Id.
Thereafter, the Appeals Council denied Plaintiff's request for review of ALJ Motta's decision, making her non-disability finding the final administrative decision of the Commissioner. PageID 376-78. See Casey v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs. , 987 F.2d 1230, 1233 (6th Cir. 1993). Plaintiff then filed this timely appeal of ALJ Motta's June 14, 2017 non-disability finding. Cook v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , 480 F.3d 432, 435 (6th Cir. 2007). This finding is now before the Court for review.
The evidence of record is adequately summarized in the ALJ Motta's June 14, 2017 decision (PageID 830-47), Plaintiff's Statement of Errors (doc. 10) the Commissioner's memorandum in opposition (doc. 11), and Plaintiff's reply (doc. 12). The undersigned incorporates all of the foregoing and sets forth the facts relevant to this appeal herein.
The Court's inquiry on a Social Security appeal is to determine (1) whether the ALJ's non-disability finding is supported by substantial evidence, and (2) whether the ALJ employed the correct legal criteria. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g) ; Bowen v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 478 F.3d 742, 745-46 (6th Cir. 2007). In performing this review, the Court must consider the record as a whole. Hephner v. Mathews , 574 F.2d 359, 362 (6th Cir. 1978).
Substantial evidence is "such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion." Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401, 91 S.Ct. 1420, 28 L.Ed.2d 842 (1971). When substantial evidence supports the ALJ's denial of benefits, that finding must be affirmed, even if substantial evidence also exists in the record upon which the ALJ could have found Plaintiff disabled. Buxton v. Halter , 246 F.3d 762, 772 (6th Cir. 2001). Thus, the ALJ has a " ‘zone of choice’ within which he [or she] can act without the fear of court interference." Id. at 773.
The second judicial inquiry -- reviewing the correctness of the ALJ's legal analysis -- may result in reversal even if the ALJ's decision is supported by substantial evidence in the record. Rabbers v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , 582 F.3d 647, 651 (6th Cir. 2009). "[A] decision of the Commissioner will not be upheld where the [Social Security Administration] fails to follow its own regulations and where that error prejudices a claimant on the merits or deprives the claimant of a substantial right." Bowen , 478 F.3d at 746.
To be eligible for disability benefits, a claimant must be under a "disability" as defined by the Social Security Act. 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A). Narrowed to its statutory meaning, a "disability" includes physical and/or mental impairments
that are both "medically determinable" and severe enough to prevent a claimant from (1) performing his or her past job and (2) engaging in "substantial gainful activity" that is available in the regional or national economies. Id.
Administrative regulations require a five-step sequential evaluation for disability determinations. 20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4). Although a dispositive finding at any step ends the ALJ's review, see Colvin v. Barnhart , 475 F.3d 727, 730 (6th Cir. 2007), the complete sequential review poses five questions:
20 C.F.R. § 404.1520(a)(4) ; see also Miller v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec., 181 F.Supp.2d 816, 818 (S.D. Ohio 2001). A claimant bears the ultimate burden of establishing disability under the Social Security Act's definition. Key v. Comm'r of Soc. Sec. , 109 F.3d 270, 274 (6th Cir. 1997).
Plaintiff argues that the ALJ erred on remand (1) by declining to...
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